


Black Blood

by flight815kitsune



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-08
Updated: 2012-12-07
Packaged: 2017-11-20 14:22:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/586321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flight815kitsune/pseuds/flight815kitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Narcissa Malfoy figures out her priorities in battle and the world that emerges afterwards.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was the Second Wizarding War. The Battle of Hogwarts was in full force, spells and bodies are all that's visible through the dust of crumbling masonry never meant to defend against an attack like this. Friend and foe aremixed, and she's not quite sure which side is which, anyway.

Was the right side the place where she has sat for so long, a lovely flower as the world crashed down?

Or was the right side with Potter, who she had just used to try and save her son?

Alone, she was not enough to make her own side, was she?

Narcissa Malfoy felt helpless.

She had invested far to much of herself in her husband. Lucius had suffered greatly in Azkaban, and things had gotten worse upon his release. He was weak, tired, and it seemed like all the swagger had been replaced with quiet disgust in himself. Every fiber of his being was at the Dark Lord's mercy, he had been broken out just to be made an example of. He had even lost his wand. A family heirloom sullied and broken on the whim of a madman.

She had never pledged allegiance to the man, and he had never demanded it. Perhaps her sister, husband, and most importantly, her _son_ , were enough of a sacrifice. She has retained a better position to work from than either of her sisters. She was not bound to his side, but she was not on the side opposed, either.

Bellatrix had changed from the sister she had known during his original rise to power, Her marriage to poor Rudolphus had been one of politics and not affection, and no amount of effort on his part could change that. She cared for the Dark Lord from the moment she saw him. She had marked her body for him, offered herself to him on many occasions. He always refused, but it was clear she would kiss more than his feet had there been the slightest opportunity. After Azkaban, there wasn't a trace of her sister left, unless you count the time Bellatrix had torn the wings off of a fairy in the garden when she was too young to know the difference.

Andromeda had run off with Ted Tonks. A muggle-born  _Hufflepuff_. It was quite a scene, and she never looked back. Even after the fall, she had never written. Not one letter in all those years. Narcissa had learned of her niece, the metamorphagus, through the Daily Prophet. The paper had not been under their control that time, and had printed the Birth and Death notices of every wizard and witch. A bit of vengefulness seven years later assured that Andromeda would learn of Draco the same way, if she even looked. Through the grapevine, she had learned of Nymphadora's wedding and pregnancy, and Ted's death involving Snatchers. It didn't hurt to be informed.

 

Walking through the Great Hall, the dead and wounded are everywhere. The splash of pink in the seemingly monochrome world all too easy to recognize. Rumors said it was her colour, after all. Compelled by some sick curiosity to approach the still form. No one was trying to help either her or the masculine form beside her. Narcissa brushes aside the debris and kneels down. She can't help the tears that well as she caresses the cheek of a family member she never knew. A mother in the war, just as she and her sister had been. Cut down.

"No. Find Draco." Sayings the words aloud, even as just a whisper, make the goal stronger. She wipes the tears away and wanders back into the chaos.

She calls his name through the halls, hopeless reassurances to herself that everything will be fine. He's been trained by some wonderful teachers. He has her wand. He's a Slytherin. He'll be alright.

Defenseless, she searches. Unable to attack or defend or even amplify her voice.

The familiar shade of blonde brings her world back to her. She actually runs for the first time in years. She catches him and clutches him brutally to her chest. More tears, but she won't -can't- let go. He's alive. He's alive and well and Lucius will find us...

"Mother." he's standing there awkwardly and it's so similar to the time he had wandered off in Knockturn Alley. He had no idea what she had done, what she had been willing to lose for him. He was still just a lost child who thought he was in control.

Narcissa had always believed in the importance of blood, but the meaning of the word has changed. Blood was family. Holding her son and waiting for her husband to come, it became all-too-clear that blood was more important than blood-status. It only took a war to make it obvious.


	2. Chapter 2

There were many funerals, services, and celebrations to attend after the second fall of the Dark Lord.  
The first had been directly after the battle, if it could be considered anything it would be somewhere between funeral and party. There were still bodies nearby, but the relief was so strong that many of those attending didn't seem to care. Death Eaters who hadn't fled were rounded up and imprisoned, but the Malfoys were passed over. Many times. Potter's friends had ignored them, and everyone else was doing the same. They were safe.  
The celebration between her and her family wasn't much. A small dinner in a wrecked home. The night ended with her in her husband's arms. For the first time in months, she was free to express her love without fear of the Dark Lord, her sister, or any other random Death Eater intruding, and the dirty comments mingled with sweet nothings he whispered showed that some of that old spark had to be there.  
The funerals were hard. She wore plain robes and a hat with a veil. A glamour spell kept her face hidden behind it. Lucius had had to cast it with his old wand from school, but it seemed to be doing the trick. He would not go with her, and she could respect that.  
There had been a ceremony at Hogwarts, a week after the battle. There was still repair work to be done, but people came. The affair was so packed with people, she had gone entirely unnoticed. She had to leave before it was halfway through because the reality that she could have lost EVERYTHING came to visit. She wasn't the first or last to leave early.  
The second one to attend was the service for Vincent Crabbe. There was no body to be buried, and part of her was glad for that. She had seen the boy grow up, Most of his family had been caught and imprisoned, but the number of students made up for that. Her son had refused to stay beside her, but he was there. It was nice to not be alone. If she had to check and make sure he was there dozens of times throughout the service, no one had to know.  
Her sister did have...something. No one spoke. There were only four people in attendance. Her sisters, a woman who had been her friend in school, and her husband. It was a burial, nothing more. Rodolphus didn't stay. He was on the run. None of the three women in attendance stopped him as he placed the flowers of a strawberry tree on her casket with a single thornless red rose. It seemed wrong to attack a man at his own wife's funeral. It only seemed more wrong when you saw the grief in his eyes, even after what Bellatrix had become.  
The one for her sister's family had many people in attendance.The crowd spoke amongst themselves as food and photos made the rounds. The pictures were heartbreaking. The wedding of her sister that she had never attended. Years of pictures of a life she had never seen. Watching her niece grow up in dozens of moving pictures. The infant with the changing appearance grows and laughs and wears Hufflepuff robes. She flies a broom and opens presents and gets a job as an Auror. She has a wedding of her own to a werewolf. The worst picture is the family before the fight. Her sister, her niece, the Professor, and the infant changing just as his mother had. Snippets of conversations from everyone, caught as she maneuvers through the crowd, paint a picture with a dozen different artists.  
"She couldn't just leave her husband there, not when she was able to fight for her son's future." It's proud words in her sister's voice.  
Broken. She can't help the choked noise in her throat or the clack of heels on stone. She is outside before she realizes it, staring at the flowers and the sky and anything as a distraction. She had to pull it together, and staring at flowers in the dark was doing nothing but wasting time.  
A crying child and a whispered "shh" capture her attention and won't let it go.  
Her sister, with a baby over one shoulder. He's crying and his hair can't seem to decide what color it is.  
"Come on, sweetheart. Just a little longer." Andromeda spots her. "Sorry. I thought we were the only ones here." She's cracking around the edges.  
The baby cries, a shrill thing like Draco had so long ago. Andromeda had tears running down her face now. He needs someone who isn't as frazzled, for a moment.   
Narcissa holds out her hands and beckons. With the veil, she didn't need to have a mask in place. She could give her sister a moment to repair hers.  
Andromeda hands the child off. Narcissa looks away when the handkerchief comes out.  
She bounces the boy like she had her own son. Hums a gentle lullaby. He calms down slowly, but patience and consistency were what was needed if he was like Draco.   
He's staring at her, and it's impossible. He is looking at her eye to eye. The glamour must be failing if he can see her face.  
His hair goes shocking blonde and she almost drops him.  
Andromeda taps her shoulder.   
"Thank you."  
She couldn't see. Perhaps glamours don't work on those too young to know the difference. She starts to hand him back and is rewarded with a quivering lip.  
"Do you mind holding onto him for a little while?"  
Shaking her head. 

The service stretches on until only she is left. He has long since fallen asleep on her shoulder.   
" I'd hate to keep you any longer. I'm sure your family must be getting worried."  
She goes to hand him off.  
"Thank you, Cissy." She takes him, but doesn't back away.  
She slowly pulls up the veil. "How did you know it was me?"  
"You think you could foo your big sister? Very few people would be seen at both Bellatrix's funeral and here." When she smiles, the small lines on her face make her look younger somehow. "He seemed to think blonde was a good way to go." She pulls her sister into a light hug. "And when you hummed, it was Mother's song."   
"I'm sorry." The words weren't enough. They'd never be enough.  
"Go home." She uses her big sister voice for the first time in who knows how long. "You can visit us tomorrow."  
She goes with a pop before anything can be said to extinguish the small bit of hope.

**Author's Note:**

> I am a proud member of the badger house. Do not assume Cissy's opinions are my own.


End file.
